October 29, 2016

F1 Quals: Mexico 2016

Beautiful day at Mexico City's Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez today. The sun was shining, bringing a lovely glow to the world's largest megaslum Neza-Chalco-Izta, located just a few miles away from the pretty park where the track is located. The track was very hot, however, making the Super-soft tires start degrading even before they were mounted on the cars. Nico Rosberg can actually clinch the World Championship this weekend, with a win and Lewis Hamilton finishing 10th or below. To stand a chance to win, first you must qualify! Here's the provisional grid for the 2016 Grand Prix of Mexico:

Pos

Driver

Car

Q1

Q2

Q3

1

LewisHamilton

Mercedes

1:19.447

1:19.137

1:18.704

2

NicoRosberg

Mercedes

1:19.996

1:19.761

1:18.958

3

Embryo Verstappen

Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer

1:19.874

1:18.972

1:19.054

4

Smiley Ricciardo

Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer

1:19.713

1:19.553

1:19.133

5

NicoHulkenberg

Force India Mercedes

1:20.599

1:19.769

1:19.330

6

KimiRäikkönen

Ferrari

1:19.554

1:19.936

1:19.376

7

SebastianVettel

Ferrari

1:19.865

1:19.385

1:19.381

8

Valtteri Bottas

Williams Mercedes

1:20.338

1:19.958

1:19.551

9

FelipeRetired Massa

Williams Mercedes

1:20.423

1:20.151

1:20.032

10

CarlosSainz

Toro Rosso Ferrari

1:20.457

1:20.169

1:20.378

11

FernandoAlonso

McLaren Honda

1:20.552

1:20.282

12

SergioPerez

Force India Mercedes

1:20.308

1:20.287

13

JensonRetired Button

McLaren Honda

1:21.333

1:20.673

14

KevinMagnussen

Renault

1:21.254

1:21.131

15

Sony Ericsson

Sauber Ferrari

1:21.062

1:21.536

16

Pascal'sWehrlein

MRT Mercedes

1:21.363

1:21.785

17

Esteban!

Haas Ferrari

1:21.401

18

Kid Kvyat

Toro Rosso Ferrari

1:21.454

19

FelipeNot Retired Nasr

Sauber Ferrari

1:21.692

20

False Esteban

MRT Mercedes

1:21.881

21

Lettuce Grosjean

Haas Ferrari

1:21.916

The sharper-eyed (or the overly-detail-oriented) of you may have noticed that there are only 21, not 22, cars listed. That's because in P3 Renault's Jolyon Palmer took his car for a looooong run over some curbing... that fit perfectly between the wheels. He wound up with a crack in the driver's tub, forcing the team to build him a new car from the ground up. He races at the stewards' whims.

Other than that, however? Rosberg pulled second place out of his exhaust pipe, jumping up from fourth at the last moment. I'm sure his teammate is happy for him. The Ferraris only noise came from a radio call with Seb Vettel in Q2: "Are we safe (in our position)?" "We are safe." "Can I go for a wee?" Just in case you wondered what F1 drivers do when... well... y'know.

Finally, Lettuce Grosjean looked to be ready to shank a b*tch after his car had another series of cascading failures in Q1. He's never been thrilled with his brakes, and they've gotten even worse over the last few races... and today, his hybrid battery went south on him, too. You know, the battery that's charged mostly by the brakes?

October 26, 2016

F1 on TV: Mexico 2016

Last year's GP of Mexico was the surprise hit of the season, with the fantastically renovated circuit combining with a gazillion insane fans. And now we're back! Here's the track map for the 2016 Grand Prix of Mexico:
I'm really not in the mood for writing tonight, so I'll simply say the tire choices are Medium, Soft and Supersofts.

October 22, 2016

F1 Quals: United States 2016

Time is running low on the 2016 season, and Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton, reigning driver's champion, is in serious trouble. His teammate has a 30+ point lead and holds all the cards. Hamilton needs to win out and hope something goes wrong with his teammate, but to win out, you've basically got to be on pole when the light go out. So how'd Quals for the 2016 United States Grand Prix work out? Here's the provisional grid:

Pos

Driver

Car

Q1

Q2

Q3

1

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

1:36.296

1:36.450

1:34.999

2

Nico Rosberg

Mercedes

1:36.397

1:36.351

1:35.215

3

Daniel Ricciardo

Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer

1:36.759

1:36.255

1:35.509

4

Embryo Verstappen

Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer

1:36.613

1:36.857

1:35.747

5

Kimi Räikkönen

Ferrari

1:36.985

1:36.584

1:36.131

6

Sebastian Vettel

Ferrari

1:37.151

1:36.462

1:36.358

7

Nico Hulkenberg

Force India Mercedes

1:36.950

1:36.626

1:36.628

8

Valtteri Bottas

Williams Mercedes

1:37.456

1:37.202

1:37.116

9

FelipeRetired Massa

Williams Mercedes

1:37.402

1:37.214

1:37.269

10

Carlos Sainz

Toro Rosso Ferrari

1:37.744

1:37.175

1:37.326

11

Sergio Perez

Force India Mercedes

1:37.345

1:37.353

12

Fernando Alonso

McLaren Honda

1:37.913

1:37.417

13

Kid Kvyat

Toro Rosso Ferrari

1:37.844

1:37.480

14

Esteban!

Haas Ferrari

1:38.053

1:37.773

15

Jolyon Palmer

Renault

1:38.084

1:37.935

16

Sony Ericsson

Sauber Ferrari

1:38.040

1:39.356

17

Lettuce Grosjean

Haas Ferrari

1:38.308

18

Kevin Magnussen

Renault

1:38.317

19

Jenson Retired Button

McLaren Honda

1:38.327

20

Pascal's Wehrlein

MRT Mercedes

1:38.548

21

FelipeNot Retired Nasr

Sauber Ferrari

1:38.583

22

False Esteban

MRT Mercedes

1:38.806

The two Merc drivers split the first two Qual sessions. Perhaps importantly, Rosberg was fastest in the second session. This is important because the top 10 have to start on the tires they used for their fastest lap in Q2... and unlike everybody else, the Mercs used the Soft tires while everybody else used the Supersofts. So in theory, Rosberg will have the advantage in at least the first stint.

Beyond them, Two-by-Two is was the rule of the day with only a wayward Force India to break up the first eight slots symmetry. Major disappointment for American team HaasF1, who were chasing gremlins all practice. Maybe things will go better for the race tomorrow afternoon! Look for it on NBC-the-mother-network, and sometime thereafter, F1U!

October 19, 2016

F1 on TV: United States 2016

Y'all put your Stetsons and cowboy boots on, grab a handful of shootin' iron, jump in your pickup truck (RED TRUCK!) and drive your herd just southeast of central Texas to that lil' ol' town called Austin. But be careful, there's gonna be a buncha furriners there, because the circus is in town... the Formula 1 Circus, that is! C'mon down to the Circuit of the Americas, home of the United States Grand Prix! Take a gander at the track map:
Today, tomorrow and forever, the best of the new circuits. Blatantly stealing Borrowing the best concepts from other tracks around the world, COTA is just about everything you'd want from a FIA Class 1 circuit. Plenty of run-off area surrounds the track itself while the facility has the world's only Emergency Room located at a race track to go along with the 5500 sq ft medical center (which is fully prepared to deal with exotic diseases like malaria and ebola. Yes, really). But best of all is what isn't going to be coming to Austin this year.
Yep, it was just last year that Hurricane Patricia hit the western coast of Mexico, then tracked up north. That meant rain and lots of it: nearly a foot of rain in a couple of days, to the point the 2015 USGP nearly got rained out. As it was, the whole weekend was borked up... just take a look at the goings-on on Saturday for a reminder of what it was like.

As is usual for a home race, the Legendary Announce Team will be on-site and bringing us coverage of every session during the weekend! Here's a look at the broadcast schedule:Friday
Practice 1: 10a - 1130a live on NBCSN
Practice 2: 2p - 330p live on NBCSNSaturday
Practice 3-Intermission-Quals: 1130a - 3p live on NBCSNSunday
2016 United States Grand Prix: 130p - 4p live on NBC

All times are Pond Central, of course. On a personal note, I tried to get Friday off from work, but because of a mandatory event I couldn't manage it. I did manage to get the afternoon off though, so I'll be parked in the Official Comfy Chair of The Pond for P2! Saturday and Sunday, of course, are givens.

So there we have it: the USGP! I'm looking forward to this one, if for no other reason that it'll be the first time HaasF1 has been home. Points would be nice, guys!

October 14, 2016

Forces

I bumped into this picture the other day, thought it quite amazing how it shows forces at work on a F1 car.
Let's be perfectly clear about this: there is nothing wrong with this Mercedes. Aerodynamics and G-forces alone have hucked the car over to the left. The tires are doing their job of pretending to be shock absorbers. The roll to the left is being mirrored on the right, picking the front right off the ground as the rear left compresses. And underneath, the titanium skid plate is performing its secondary duty of a sparkler.

October 08, 2016

Well, that was fun! Here's the provisional grid for the 2016 Grand Prix of Japan:

Pos

Driver

Car

Q1

Q2

Q3

1

NicoRosberg

Mercedes

1:31.858

1:30.714

1:30.647

2

LewisHamilton

Mercedes

1:32.218

1:31.129

1:30.660

3

KimiRäikkönen

Ferrari

1:31.674

1:31.406

1:30.949

4

SebbyVettel

Ferrari

1:31.659

1:31.227

1:31.028

5

Embryo Verstappen

Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer

1:32.487

1:31.489

1:31.178

6

Smiley Ricciardo

Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer

1:32.538

1:31.719

1:31.240

7

SergioPerez

Force India Mercedes

1:32.682

1:32.237

1:31.961

8

Lettuce Grosjean

Haas Ferrari

1:32.458

1:32.176

1:31.961

9

NicoHulkenberg

Force India Mercedes

1:32.448

1:32.200

1:32.142

10

Esteban!

Haas Ferrari

1:32.620

1:32.155

1:32.547

11

Valtteri Bottas

Williams Mercedes

1:32.383

1:32.315

12

Retired Massa

Williams Mercedes

1:32.562

1:32.380

13

Kid Kvyat

Toro Rosso Ferrari

1:32.645

1:32.623

14

CarlosSainz

Toro Rosso Ferrari

1:32.789

1:32.685

15

FernandoAlonso

McLaren Honda

1:32.819

1:32.689

16

JolyonPalmer

Renault

1:32.796

1:32.807

17

Retired Button

McLaren Honda

1:32.851

18

KevinMagnussen

Renault

1:33.023

19

Sony Ericsson

Sauber Ferrari

1:33.222

20

Felipe Not Massa Nasr

Sauber Ferrari

1:33.332

21

False Esteban

MRT Mercedes

1:33.353

22

Pascal's
Wehrlein

MRT Mercedes

1:33.561

Nico Rosberg beat his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton to the line by .013 seconds. On track, that works out to about 82 centimeters, or just a touch over 32 inches. The Mercedes W07 Hybrid chassis is 197 inches long, as a reference... yeah, that's pretty close. The video of the two lapping side-by-side is quite impressive.

Once again, we get two-by-two at the top of the grid: Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull. Vettel has a three grid-spot penalty coming for his banzai charge at the start of the Malaysian GP, though. It's amazing how the teams often break down that way.

The big news out of qualifying is the performance of Team Haas. This is the first time they've gotten both cars into Q3 at once. Sure, they didn't exactly cover themselves in glory in the session, but they were there. You want evidence that the team is advancing as a race team? There ya go. The points at the start of the season were nice, but they were outclassed by the more experienced organizations fairly quickly. Now they're starting to make gains on that front as well. Nice to see.

The biggest disappointment had to be felt by McLaren-Honda. After all, they're in Honda's home country, on the circuit owned and designed by Honda, and they've been coming to grips with their new engine all season. And then they leave a mess on the carpet that even an Aismo wouldn't clean up. That can't have gone over well at all.

So Rosberg gets the early advantage over Hamilton, on a track where such things are fairly important. With the gap he has in points over his teammate, he's not going to be reluctant to muscle him around, either... if they both get knocked out by damage, well, that's just going to make the lead that much harder to cut down. Not that Rosberg is going to do a Senna/Prost or anything, mind.

Race is late tonight/early tomorrow... I'll probably watch at least part of it live. If anything important happens, I'll mention it here before the F1U!. See ya later!

3
1) A "blue flag" is waved to have a backmarker or other slow cars get out of the way of the leaders or faster cars. That's to prevent holding up one driver and advantaging another. It's also a safety thing. Back when HRT began in F1, they were slow enough that they could be overrun pretty easily. If you ignore blue flags for long enough, you can be penalized or excluded from the race ("shown the black flag")

2) "Moving under braking" is, well, exactly what it sounds like. Normally when a driver approaches a turn, he'll position the car where he feels the most comfortable to take the turn. When the "braking zone", or normal area that a F1 car/driver will slow down for a turn, it's assumed that they are where they need to be and won't do anything unexpected: they're going to be busy making the turn as smoothly (and thus as fast) as possible. "Moving under braking" suggests that the driver positioned himself in one spot for the turn, usually blocking a car behind from passing on a common line, and then dodges into a different line at the last moment. Usually that winds up defending another line through the turn, one that the trailing car is approaching. Car A is in the lead, Car B is behind, but closing, as they approach the turn. Car A blocks the inside line (which is fine), and B goes to the outside. Then once the cars are more or less committed to the turn, A moves and blocks the outside line at the very last moment. Usually this winds up with Car A slowing down to cornering speeds (90mph?) while Car B is still at 190mph.

October 04, 2016

F1 on NBCSN: Japan 2016

From Sepang International Circuit, the F1 Circus packs up, trundles over to the Kuala Lumpur (Koala Lumper!) International Airport, just across the street. From there, it's a surprisingly long 9-1/2 hour flight to Chubu Centrair International Airport, located on a manmade island just off the coast of Tokoname, Aichi, Japan. After that, it's a simple 90 minute drive to the location of this week's race, Suzuka International Racing Course, home of the 2016 Grand Prix of Japan! Here's the track map for this, my favorite circuit on the F1 calendar:
Once a fearsome beast of a track, it has been tamed somewhat in recent years. The legendary 130R was straightened a bit via a double-apex turn, Degner was made into two turns instead of one big sweeping bend, and the final chicane was first added, then moved closer to 130R. Despite all this, Suzuka is still one of the premiere tracks in F1, and the only one with a figure-8 layout. Not that there's many of those worldwide or anything.

It's also one of the favorites of the drivers. Not just because of the feeling that you're actually going somewhere, something you don't get at the Tilkedromes, but because of the Japanese fans. Only at Monza might you find a more passionate bunch, and no fans are more knowledgeable. And if there's a Japanese driver in the field? Bedlam. And if by chance he ends up on the podium? You get the 2012 post-race experience, with the entire crowd chanting Gandalf Kobayashi's name. Thrilling stuff.

While it's a late night race, the start isn't so late, and we have the Legendary Announce Team to keep us awake! Here's the broadcast schedule:Friday
Practice 2: 1201a - 130a live on NBCSNSaturday
Quals: 1a - 230a live on NBCSN
2016 Grand Prix of Japan: 1130p - 2a live on NBCSN

All times Pond Central of course, because Pond Central time is best time! And sometime after the race, F1 Update! will be along with another thrilling and exciting writeup of the race (note: may not be thrilling or exciting). Join us, won't you?

October 01, 2016

F1 Quals: Malaysia 2016

A threat of rain hung in the air at steamy Sepang, the home of the Malaysian Grand Prix. The heat and humidity actually claimed Red Bull driver Embryo Verstappen, with the young driver passing out after exiting his car at the end of Practice 1. Of course, that's nothing in comparison to the heat Kevin Magnussen had to deal with. It was still hot for Quals, but would the impending rain affect the starting lineup? Here's the provisional grid for the 2016 Grand Prix of Malaysia:

Pos

Driver

Car

Q1

Q2

Q3

1

LewisHamilton

Mercedes

1:34.444

1:33.046

1:32.850

2

NicoRosberg

Mercedes

1:34.460

1:33.609

1:33.264

3

Embryo Verstappen

Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer

1:35.443

1:33.775

1:33.420

4

Smiley Ricciardo

Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer

1:35.079

1:33.888

1:33.467

5

SebastianVettel

Ferrari

1:34.557

1:33.972

1:33.584

6

KimiRäikkönen

Ferrari

1:34.556

1:33.903

1:33.632

7

SergioPerez

Force India Mercedes

1:35.068

1:34.538

1:34.319

8

NicoHulkenberg

Force India Mercedes

1:34.827

1:34.441

1:34.489

9

Retiring Button

McLaren Honda

1:35.267

1:34.431

1:34.518

10

Retiring Massa

Williams Mercedes

1:35.267

1:34.422

1:34.671

11

Valtteri Bottas

Williams Mercedes

1:35.166

1:34.577

12

Lettuce Grosjean

Haas Ferrari

1:35.400

1:35.001

13

Esteban!

Haas Ferrari

1:35.658

1:35.097

14

Torchy Magnussen

Renault

1:35.593

1:35.277

15

Kid Kvyat

Toro Rosso Ferrari

1:35.695

1:35.369

16

CarlosSainz

Toro Rosso Ferrari

1:35.605

1:35.374

17

Sony Ericsson

Sauber Ferrari

1:35.816

18

FelipeNot Massa Nasr

Sauber Ferrari

1:35.949

19

JolyonPalmer

Renault

1:35.999

20

False Esteban

MRT Mercedes

1:36.451

21

Pascal's Wager

MRT Mercedes

1:36.587

22

FernandoAlonso

McLaren Honda

1:37.155

Fernando Alonso changed multiple pieces of his engine and the gearbox, giving him a 45 grid spot penalty before Quals began. As you can imagine, he didn't exactly go all out in his efforts today.

Other than that? It's all pretty much by rote. The Mercs are clowning the rest of the field, Red Bull actually looks pretty decent (but not that decent), Ferrari is grumpy, and there's a whole lot of two-by-two going on all the way down the grid.

I'd love to be more excited about the race, but boy, it's looking awfully familiar right about now. There's a lot of complaining about the reprofiled final turn... it's universally hated... but other than that, there may not be a whole lot of excitement.

2
According to the team, they were testing a series of new parts on the car. One of them malfunctioned, allowing fuel to flow up and out of the relief valve (which can be seen in the video). Once that hit someplace hot...

Kudos to the brave guy who hooked up a fuel bowser to the car to try and drain it... he had a firesuit, but the mechanic that wound up helping him seat the hose did not.

I've always wondered why the mechanics don't wear their full kit when the cars are on track. I know its because they'll be doing maintenance work, and the suits make it harder to do that, but... well.